Naruto: Chaos Game
by Tyche's Revenge
Summary: videogame! Naruto. Naruto decides to go with a jutsu he thinks he can handle instead of yet another clone technique. This has unexpected results.
1. Chapter 1

**Just something I had on my computer. Might never update, unless people really want it continued.**

Naruto was incredibly excited! He was this close to graduating! He had beaten the Hokage and gotten the scroll! Now he just had to learn a single jutsu from it and he would be golden. He had been devastated when he had failed for the third time, but now he had a second chance.

Naruto was discouraged when he saw that the first jutsu on the scroll was yet another clone technique, but he decided to glance through the rest of the scroll just in case there was an easier one. Most of the techniques were insanely complicated with long explanations but this one seemed easy!

All he had to do was grab a piece of bark and draw on it with his kunai. Admittedly, he didn't really understand the kanji it used and drawing a circle and a star with its points slightly outside the circle seemed a little weird for a jutsu, but hey, it was something he could do! Even if he didn't actually know what it did.

Naruto went back to the scroll and checked to see if there was anything else he should do. Making the only hand seal necessary, he began pumping chakra into his drawing.

Naruto began to feel the jutsu pull on his chakra reserves. It was working! "Ahhh!" he screamed when it began to pull even harder. A blue fire had appeared in the air above his bark. "Fire! Did I do something wrong? How did it light on fire? Ahhh!"

Naruto tried to drop the technique so he could try again but realized he was stuck. The technique had a hold on him and it wasn't letting go.

"Shit!" He began to sweat as the jutsu took more and more chakra from him. This was ridiculous! He had never even been _able_ to put this much chakra in any technique! It had always released itself after a certain amount.

The dust around Naruto's feet swirled and jumped as he gained a corona of chakra. Naruto was glowing from the amount of chakra being pushed into the jutsu and it seemed determined to take even more!

Naruto screamed loud and long as the chakra pouring out of his body started to ache. It felt like someone was trying to turn him inside out! What didn't realize was that what he was feeling was extreme chakra exhaustion resulting from using a jutsu and expending too much chakra. He didn't recognize the feeling since he had never felt even normal chakra exhaustion.

Naruto suddenly found a reserve he didn't know he had when his chakra switched from blue to orange. Even pulling unconsciously on the Kyuubi was barely enough. It kept Naruto alive, but it was pulling directly on the seal and filling a damaged and depleted chakra network with the most acidic chakra known to man!

Naruto wasn't even aware of his screams anymore. His entire world was a kaleidoscope of pain as he felt like he was burning, tearing apart, and having broken glass shoved through his blood at the same time.

Then it happened. The jutsu finally had the chakra necessary and completed itself. With a flare of light that could be seen at the Hokage Tower, the technique finalized the hole it had been burning in reality and Naruto simply vanished.

xxx

_Somewhere…or nowhere. Depends on your point of view._

Naruto popped into this place in a very dramatic flare of energies and the sound of rushing wind. Of course, the drama was marred a bit by the fact he passed out cold from agony before he even finished materializing, but it was still very different from the normal in this place.

_**HMMM.**_ _**I BRING HIM HERE AND HE CAN'T EVEN STAY AWAKE. SOME PEOPLE…**_

_**I WONDER WHY HE DID THAT? REGARDLESS, HE DID CALL ON ME SO I GUESS HE'S FREE GAME. THIS- THIS COULD BE FUN!**_

_**I WONDER WHAT YOUR FUTURES HOLD.**_

…_**WOW. YOU ARE COMPLETELY SCREWED. I HAVEN'T SEEN ODDS THIS BAD IN A WHILE. I'M A LITTLE SHOCKED YOU'RE EVEN ALIVE TODAY.**_

_**WELL, I'M GONNA HAVE FUN. IT MIGHT SUCK TO BE YOU THOUGH.**_

_**YOU NOW PLAY A CHOAS GAME MORTAL. PLAY WELL.**_

xxx

Naruto woke up and wished he hadn't. His entire body burned with pain and he had a migraine from the flash. He struggled to his feet with many complaints from his aching body.

"What happened? Did I mess the jutsu up?" Sudden pain wracked his body and wrecked his train of thought. His balance, already precarious, was ruined by the spike of pain and his face reacquainted itself with the ground.

'_Damn it,' _he thought as he pushed himself up again, '_that hurt! I don't think I have the time to learn a jutsu before the end of the test! Am I really not going to be a ninja?'_

Naruto felt a couple of tears leak as he thought of never fulfilling his dream. His thoughts kept spiraling into depression; _I'll never be a ninja now! Hokage-jiji is going to be so disappointed! What am I going to do if I'm not a ninja? I don't know anything else._

Naruto never heard the person come behind him. He was so consumed with his thoughts; he never even felt the blade that killed him.

xxx

**Jutsu Score**

**Taijutsu: 0**

**Genjutsu: 0**

**Ninjutsu: 0**

**Kenjutsu: 0**

**Fuinjutsu: 0**

**Jutsu Learned: 2**

**Jutsu Score: 20**

**Physical Statistics Score**

**Strength: 0**

**Speed: 0**

**Defense: 0**

**Endurance: 0**

**Health: 0**

**Physical Statistics Score: 0**

**Chakra Statistics Score**

**Chakra Reserves: 0**

**Chakra Control: 0**

**Chakra Regeneration: 0**

**Chakra Element: 0**

**Chakra Statistics Score: 0**

**Special Statistics Score**

**Intelligence Score: 0**

**Charisma Score: 0**

**Awareness Score: 0**

**Luck: 0**

**Special Statistics Score: 0**

**Score Subtotal: 20**

**Modifiers**

**Died in Tutorial (-1000)**

**Died a Civilian (-1000)**

**Died a Virgin (-2000)**

**Died Stupidly (-2000)**

**Died a Failure (-2500)**

**Oblivious (-500)**

**Fanboy (-1000)**

**Missions Failed 1 (-100)**

**Low Jutsu Score (-200)**

**No Physical Score (-2000)**

**No Chakra Score (-2000)**

**No Special Score (-2000)**

**Just Plain Suck (-10000)**

**Precious People**

**Hokage (Level: Grandparent)**

**Iruka (Level: Teacher)**

**(+200)**

**Subtotal: -26100**

**Karma**

**Positive Karma**

**No Hate: 2000**

**Endurance: 2000**

**Good Deeds 53: 53**

**Negative Karma**

**Pranks 697: 697**

**Karma Subscore: 3356 (Positive)**

**Modifier: Innocent (1x)**

**Karma Score: 3356 (Positive)**

**Score Total: -22724**

**Rank: Lamb to the Slaughter**

**Comment: You SUCK! Pathetic! Try again!**

**Negative Score! Dobe Naruto Available!**

'_WTF?!' _Naruto stared at the giant glowing screen in front of him. '_Is this judgment?' _He had thought that the afterlife was going to be more impressive than an empty room with a giant screen.

'_Wow, my scores really do suck.' _Naruto hadn't thought that his life had been quite that pathetic, but having it put in giant glowing letters sort of drove the point home.

He stood looking at his scores for a little longer before losing patience. "Okay, I get it! I sucked! Now what?" Naruto looked around but nothing happened.

'_Am I stuck here? This would be a horrible eternity!'_ Naruto began to feel panic. The absolute worst punishment he could think of was having nothing to do except stare at a reminder of his failures!

"Come on! Just tell me what's next! Please?" Naruto was getting jittery just at the thought of being stuck here forever. The board flashed once then changed.

The Board now had a chibi version of Naruto laying at rest: I'ts eyes were closed and it was holding a single daisy. This was obviously a way of showing that he was dead. Beneath were three words.

**Retry? Yes/No**

"Retry? What the hell? I die and this is what I get? It feels like a rip off!" Naruto thought about it for a second. '_Then again, maybe I should be glad I'm getting reincarnated at all with my score!'_

"Fine, yes I want to be reincarnated." With that the board flashed on **Yes** for a second before going blank. Just as Naruto was getting nervous, an opening appeared in the screen with an arrow pointing down at it.

"Can't even get decent service in the afterlife," Naruto grumbled as he walked toward the opening.

In the room beyond the screen large objects were lined up in rows. Naruto had no idea what they were because they were wrapped in massive black shrouds with chains wrapped around them and securely padlocked. '_Wow, somebody doesn't want those seen. I wonder if I can sneak a peek at it.' _He considered the shrouds for a second before shrugging and giving into the temptation.

_CRACK!_ Naruto felt like he was floating for a second, right up until his impromptu flight ended with the wall.

Naruto laid spread eagle on the floor below the wall he had just become so intimately familiar with. "Right," he wheezed, "don't touch the chained stuff. Got it."

After a couple more minutes to get the world to stop spinning, Naruto pulled himself to his feet. He had to figure out where to go, preferably without touching any of the booby-trapped things.

Naruto looked around, but couldn't see anything thanks to the chained things in front of him. Shrugging he decided to walk until he found something interesting. As he walked, he realized that whatever was beneath the cloth had to be mildly human-shaped since some of them had bumps that looked like limbs under the cloth.

While it was mildly interesting to try to guess what could be under the chains and cloth, Naruto was getting _really _bored. Unfortunately, boredom translated to curiosity-inspired stupidity for him, so he decided to try an experiment. He knew that touching the cloth was bad, but could it be cut from a distance?

Naruto being Naruto, he tested it in the most immediate and risky way possible. He grabbed a kunai, one of only three he had on him, and whipped it at the cloth.

The cloth barely rippled when the kunai hit it. In a distinctly unnatural fashion the kunai sank into the cloth like it would in water until it was completely gone from view. Naruto stared at the spot where his kunai had vanished for a minute.

'_Huh. Well, that was different anyway. That was a good kunai though.'_ With that thought Naruto turned to start his exploration again.

_**CRACK-BOOM**_

The moment Naruto lost sight of the object; it spit the kunai back at him. The good news was that it came back hilt first. The bad news was that it came back faster than it had been thrown. And charged with Raiton chakra.

**WHAM**

Naruto fought the floor with his head. It was a closer contest than one would expect but in the end the floor won.

"Ow." Naruto would have said more but he was preoccupied with feeling pain. Eventually he rolled over, more to get his abused nose off the ground than out of an actual desire to move. The ceiling seemed to swim with lights above him, so he decided to wait for the lights to go away before moving.

Naruto eventually realized that one of the light sources was either very persistent or real. Either way, it was something different so he decided to follow it. His headache was almost gone, so he didn't even think about the fact that everything else in the room that had been different had hurt him badly.

Naruto followed the light, but quickly realized it was much further away than he had first assumed. He had thought it would be a minute or so away, but had walked for at least ten and was just over half-way there.

Naruto finally arrived at the light, only to see that it was shining on a statue of some kind. It was a triumph of artistry: massive, detailed beyond belief, and painted so realistically you would almost expect it to start walking. The weird thing was that it looked like him. While he couldn't actually see all of the face thanks to the statue's size and how close together the statues were, the awesome orange jumpsuit was fairly distinctive.

"Okay, that's… creepy." Naruto was a little freaked out that someone had taken the time to make something quite this detailed about him. Still, it was a little cool that someone recognized his sheer awesomeness.

The statue was interesting, but it didn't really tell him what to do next! Naruto finally got fed up with the whole mess and kicked the statue as hard as he could. Any therapeutic benefit was lost with the pain in his foot. Naruto jumped and cursed for a second before noticing that an odd square of light was floating in front of his statue.

The light seemed almost solid like a piece of paper, but when he tried to poke it his hand just went through.

Naruto was more than a little freaked out by the impossible light, but it was still better than the endless chained things. There was even writing on it, though he couldn't figure out what the square actually was.

**Character: Naruto Uzumaki**

**Unlocked Avatar**

**Available Avatar**

**Bunshin Tree**

**Standard Naruto**

**With generally lower than average base stats, this Avatar has a nasty trick: ****Kage Bunshin****. Skillful use of this technique can turn the tide of any battle.**

**Use Avatar? Yes/No**

Naruto stared at the words. They didn't seem to make any sense! What the he… huh. Now that he thought about it, maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to even think about that particular expression.

"I wonder what 'Unlocked Avatar' means?" Naruto dove behind the nearest figure as the square in front of him flashed. He might not have been brilliant, but every other sudden change in this place had resulted in pain so he wasn't taking any chances.

When Naruto peeked back around the chains, he didn't see anything obviously different. He cautiously walked over to the square, only relaxing when he was in front of it with nothing trying to take his head off. The square now had new writing on it.

**View Unlocked Avatars? Yes/No**

'_Eh, might as well, it can't hurt too much right?' _With that (foolishly) optimistic thought Naruto braced himself then said yes.

The entire world suddenly twisted and warped around him! He caught flashes of the room changing itself with impossible shapes and unearthly geometry! Suddenly the world snapped back into focus around him with sudden stillness. The sudden changes were too much for him and he passed out from sheer vertigo.

Naruto woke up to a pounding in his head and feeling sick to his stomach. He didn't really know what had happened, but he knew he didn't want to do it again.

He got up and looked around at a changed room. In front of him were two statues that were fully painted with the lights on them. Behind them were more statues that were made with the same care and precision but were in gray stone instead of painted. If he looked hard he could see the chained figures far behind them.

The statue on Naruto's right was the one he had already seen, Standard Kage Bunshin. He was finally getting his first real look at it. It really looked just like him, jumpsuit, grin and all.

The statue on Naruto's left was a little different. It had the same orange jumpsuit, but it just didn't seem right. Its expression was the same, but its eyes were a dull blue instead of the bright blue of the original. Where the first statue was standing up straight, this one was slouching. The original was a little messy, but this one's jumpsuit was obviously ill kempt with rips, tears, and wrinkles everywhere.

Naruto fingered his kunai, wondering exactly what it would take to destroy this statue. He had actually half-drawn his weapons when he came to his senses. '_What am I DOING? I know not to attack stuff around here! Get a grip!'_ Shaking off the thoughts of destruction and mayhem that had been creeping into his mind, he decided to investigate this statue.

Naruto walked up to the statue, but nothing happened. No square, no words, there weren't even any attacks! Naruto stopped and thought for a second. The last time he had made the square appear he had kicked the statue. Maybe it had something to do with that?

Acting on his impulse, Naruto lightly kicked the base of the statue. There was a flash and the square appeared again. "Yeah!" Naruto cheered. Finally he was figuring this stupid place out!

Naruto calmed down after a second of dancing and started reading the square's information.

**Character: Naruto Uzumaki**

**Unlocked Avatar**

**Available Avatar**

**Nerf Tree**

**Dobe Naruto**

**Requirements: Negative score**

**With its incredibly low base stats, this Avatar hits like a pillow and defends like it's made of toilet paper. It has the health of a mayfly and just about the same expected lifespan. Its worst stat though is its intelligence. If it were any stupider, it would be in a coma! This Avatar's sheer stupidity makes any around it wish to kill it. All of this has one upside: just surviving the tutorial guarantees a decent score. Only recommended for experienced players.**

**Use Avatar? Yes/No**

"Wow. That really sucks." Naruto deadpanned. "No, I don't want to use the Avatar." As soon as Naruto said no, the square disappeared with another flash of light. "Okay, I think I've got this!"

Naruto decided to just go with things. He walked over to the right-hand statue and kicked it. When the square popped up, he read it through to make sure nothing had changed. Then he took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and spoke the word. "Yes."

For a second it didn't seem that anything had happened. Then the eyes of the statue lit up, before bathing the entire room with white light! The light flickered with a strobe effect between blinding white and total darkness.

"AHH!" Naruto screamed as he threw his hands up in front of his eyes. "What the crap?!" The flashes were so bright that he could still see the changes in the lighting even with his hands in front of his eyes, and his eyes closed.

Suddenly the flashes stopped. Naruto cautiously pulled his hands away from his eyes and gasped at what he saw. Nothing. Everything was pitch black, without so much as a speck of light to be seen. '_Have I gone blind? Crap!'_

Naruto freaked out until he saw a light appear in front of him. He watched it until the light resolved itself into the chibi form he had seen on the screen before. The chibi was struck by an intense beam of white light that lifted it up off the ground. When it was high enough, his chibi's eyes snapped open. The light settled it gently to its feet where the chibi looked its body over for a second before jumping up and down in obvious excitement.

Naruto stared at the spectacle with an open mouth. '_WTF? This place just seems to get more insane! What's this for anyway?'_

Naruto's ruminations were cut off when he felt a tug on his navel. He flailed in panic at the sensation, getting even more desperate as the sensation became more insistent. His resistance eventually caused the force to stop trying to pull him. He relaxed and sighed in relief at seemingly dodging a bullet. A whistling noise he hadn't even noticed got much louder for a second before cutting off. He heard a whoosh of air before experiencing a feeling not dissimilar to being body checked by a mountain! For the last time that day he felt the whole world go dark.

xxx

Naruto was incredibly excited! He was this close to graduating! He had beaten the Hokage and gotten the scroll! Now all he had to do was find a nice quiet place to learn a new jutsu and- Wait, hadn't he done this already?

Naruto stumbled in his run through the forest as his memories caught up with him. He had preformed a jutsu, passed out, woken up, gotten killed, gone to his judgment, gotten told his entire life sucked, and then… came back?

'_Okay, this is… weird. I might as well take advantage of the second chance though.'_ Naruto was about to head out to the clearing where he had been training before when a thought broke through. '_Wait, that was where I was killed before. I don't want to end up dead again so I had better figure out something else.'_

"What else can I use for training? The academy is too close, and my apartment's too obvious. One of the training grounds? Nah, they have all of those patrols by the ANBU. If I'm found I'll fail." Naruto was thinking as hard as he ever had but was drawing a blank. "Crap, there isn't anywhere in town to do this."

Naruto's frustrated expression faded when inspiration struck. "Not in town, but I'd bet the House would be good!"

The House was obviously enough, a house. What made it special was that it had been built quite a ways away from the rest of Konoha. The person who had originally built it had been a reclusive ninja with paranoia. Considering that Konoha was a ninja village, being called paranoid was quite an accomplishment! When he died of old age (which might say something for paranoia) he didn't have any children or heirs, so his house became government property. They decided to use it as a training ground for hostage rescue and fighting inside a building instead of tearing it down.

Naruto was familiar with the House because one of the punishments for his pranks was cleaning up after a team had had a training session in there assuming, of course, that the House was still structurally sound. The place had actually had to be partially or fully rebuilt several times over the years, mostly because of overenthusiastic use of explosive tags or Katon jutsu.

With all of this in mind, Naruto began to run toward the House. After a good fifteen minutes at a dead run, Naruto found the House. He dropped to the ground and unrolled the scroll a little bit. He saw the Kage Bunshin technique first and was about to go past it again when he noticed a pale golden glow around the name.

'_Okay, obviously SOMETHING wants me to learn this technique. Come to think of it, I haven't found another one that I can actually understand what it does, so this might be my best bet. The last one hurt like a mother too!'_ Naruto shook off the shivers from the remembered pain. He took one more look at the scroll before resigning himself to a long night of Kage Bunshin practice.

xxx

Iruka ran through the forest with a heavy heart. No good teacher liked to see any student fail, but to have a student turn his back on what had been taught was far worse.

In some ways he blamed himself for the situation. He could probably have done more to try to help Naruto when he saw him struggling. He should have taken a more active interest in the boy sooner, instead of letting the rumors and prejudice color his thoughts. Now the cheerful boy that he had eaten ramen with was probably going to die, and there was nothing Iruka could do to stop it.

He hoped he could find Naruto first so he wouldn't be summarily executed, but even if he did, Naruto would probably be imprisoned for life or even executed. It didn't matter that he was a child, treason was deadly serious. It was even more serious when it involved forbidden techniques.

His ears perked as he heard odd noises just a little ways away. It could be one of the other searchers, but he didn't think there was supposed to be anyone else searching around here. Also, if any fully trained ninja was making that much noise on a mission, they deserved to be busted back to the academy for sheer incompetence!

He quickly recognized where he was when he saw the marks on the trees around him. The only place regularly used for training around here was the House. With that thought he burst into the clearing.

Naruto was lying on the ground when he heard Iruka arrive. He scrambled to his feet and said, "Wow, Iruka-sensei! I didn't think anyone would find me this quickly! I still managed to pass though!"

Iruka was about to lambaste his idiot student when Naruto's words registered. _Pass? Pass what?_

"Naruto, what are you talking about?"

"The special test that Mizuki-sensei told me about! He said that if I managed to get this scroll out of Hokage-jiji's office and learn a jutsu from it before anyone found me, I could be a genin!"

Iruka froze, remembering certain reports on why Mizuki had been taken out of the active ninja. The pieces of the puzzle came together for him just as he heard the distinctive buzz of a massive shuriken.

"Down Naruto!" Iruka screamed as he jumped on top of him. He barely managed to cover Naruto's body with his own before the shuriken found its target.

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw his teacher take a hit to his back from the shuriken. Before his mind could catch up with what had happened Mizuki revealed himself and said, "Damn, not quite a kill like I wanted. Oh well, time enough for that later."

Mizuki smirked as he heard Iruka groan in pain before turning to Naruto. "Give me the scroll Naruto."

"Don't give him the scroll!" Iruka yelled. "He's a traitor, just trying to use you to get the scroll! Get away!"

Mizuki sneered at the prey he had thought he had disabled, "Don't listen to him Naruto. I may be your only chance now. After all, you know that you're hated by everyone in town. Do you know why they hate you? Why even Iruka hates you?"

Mizuki smirked at the sight of Naruto's widening eyes and rapt attention. He was about to continue when Iruka interrupted, "No Mizuki! It's forbidden! Don't!" Iruka began to struggle to get to his feet.

"Ha! See Naruto?" Mizuki cried, pointing at Iruka's struggle. "Even now he doesn't want you to know! He would do anything to shut me up!"

Iruka tried even harder, but his legs still weren't working properly after the near impromptu back surgery from the giant shuriken. "NOOO!"

"You are the reason for his parents' deaths," Mizuki's smile became even crueler and his expression took a sadistic cast as he delivered the finishing blow, "Naruto, you are the Kyuubi!"

With that declaration, years of wondering crystallized into certainty in Naruto's mind. He flashed back through the half heard insults, the parents pulling their children away, and the sheer loneliness that he had felt. In the end it was just too much. He had to get away. He ran into the forest, hoping to find a place to hide and process the revelation.

Mizuki smirked as he saw the jinchuriki run into the forest. "Now all I have to do is hunt him down and get that scroll back. Don't worry though," he leered at Iruka, "I'll be back for you later. No witnesses, you know?"

Iruka watched Mizuki run off into the forest to play search and destroy with his least favorite ex-student. _'Just survive Naruto! Just a couple of minutes and I can be there to help!'_

xxx

Naruto ran along the trees as quickly as he could with the forbidden scroll tied to his back. Panic and confusion were writ large across his face. Iruka caught up to him and shouted, "Give me the scroll Naruto! I'll draw Mizuki off!"

Naruto glanced over at where Iruka bounded beside him. He nodded wordlessly and jumped closer. Iruka got ready to catch the scroll, but was completely unprepared when Naruto body-slammed him right out of the branches!

"How-" Iruka gasped in pain on the ground where he had skidded to a stop, "How did you know I wasn't Iruka?" With that the characteristic poof and cloud of smoke rose as Mizuki's Henge dispersed.

'Naruto' opened his eyes from the tree he was leaning against. "Because," the smoke rose from his Henge, "I'm Iruka!"

Mizuki's eyes were slitted from fury at once again being thwarted. "Damn it Iruka! You're always in my way! Why do you even defend that demon anyway?"

Iruka glared at Mizuki in response, "Naruto isn't a demon!"

"Ha!" Mizuki scoffed. "Did you see those eyes? Those were the eyes of an animal! Even I could see that he would do anything to survive! Those were the eyes of a rabid animal. And it's just a kindness to put a rabid animal down!"

"You're wrong!" Iruka growled at his childhood friend, "Naruto is a good kid! He's not the fox! I've seen him enough to know that! He is my precious student and I will defend him! Even if I have to die to do it."

Mizuki shook his head in false sorrow, "I can see you're not going to be reasonable about this. You know I was planning on letting you live, well, a little longer anyway, but if you're only going to be in my way, it's time for you to die!" With that he began to spin the giant shuriken above his head. "Goodbye Iruka!"

Iruka closed his eyes and made peace with the fact that he was going to die. Surprisingly, the next sound wasn't the buzzing of the shuriken coming to take his life, but a crash and a curse. He opened his eyes to see an orange jumpsuit in front of him.

Naruto stood in front of his teacher, finally secure in the knowledge that he meant something to Iruka. "Mizuki, if you even think about laying a finger on Iruka-sensei, I'll kill you!"

Mizuki was a little surprised with the killing intent Naruto was bleeding but put it down to the demon. "Yeah right!" he barked. "This is perfect! Iruka's down and I can slaughter you with one hand! I'll finish this and be on my way!"

"Not gonna happen!" Naruto brought his hands together in a seal, "Get a taste of this! Kage Bunshin!"

Mizuki just smirked, thinking that there was no way an academy student could have enough chakra to use the technique. He paled though as he looked around and saw an ocean of orange around him.

Naruto smirked at the gob smacked expression on his former teacher's face. "I thought you said you'd slaughter me? If you're not going to come to me, I'll come get you!"

With that the beat down commenced on the traitorous teacher. Mizuki dispelled the first couple of clones, but fell before the sheer weight of numbers. '_That's not fair!'_ was his last, whining thought before unconsciousness took him.

Naruto had thoroughly enjoyed beating the stuffing out of one of his teachers, a recurring fantasy of his, but decided it was time to get back to business. "Heh," he laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "guess I got a little carried away there huh?"

Iruka looked up at his student. Naruto had just done something completely impossible and barely seemed winded from it! It might have had something to do with the fox, but Naruto didn't seem possessed. He examined Naruto for a second longer before relaxing against the tree he was propped against. "Come here Naruto."

Naruto came with trepidation, not certain if he was about to be punished. "Bend down and close your eyes please."

Naruto gulped but obeyed. To his surprise, he didn't get smacked on the head or anything. Instead he felt a piece of cloth on his forehead. He looked at Iruka in utter shock as he felt the distinctive metal plate of a ninja headband.

"I think we can consider stopping a traitor to the Leaf and saving my life enough extra credit to allow you to graduate." Iruka smiled at the expressions crossing Naruto's face before continuing, "Congratulations Naruto! You're a ninja now!"

Naruto tried to speak, to say how happy he was, but found that for once he had no real words. Instead he just launched himself at Iruka for a bear hug.

"Oww!" Iruka yelled. "Watch the back!" Seeing Naruto wasn't really paying attention he just resigned himself to a little excitement induced pain. '_Naruto, one of these days you're going to be great. I can feel it,' _Iruka thought as he started to get up to head back to the village.

xxx

In the village an old man smiled at his crystal ball. '_I knew you could do it Naruto. You might have this old hat yet. Besides,'_ the Hokage thought with a mental chuckle, '_watching your reaction to paperwork would make it worth it all.'_

**Okay, I'm looking for a Beta. If anybody knows a good one, with both a sense of humor and willing to keep me motivated, please send me a PM.**_  
_

**On my other story, I'm having a difficult time with the next chapter, but I hope to have it done by the end of the week.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Morning came bright and early to Konoha. The sun slowly rose over the iconic Hokage Tower, lighting the village and casting the faces on the mountain into orange relief. Such a peaceful morning would normally have found Naruto sleeping in until he was late for class.

Today was most definitely not normal though. Naruto had woken up early so he could get to class on time, which was unusual enough that most people in Konoha would have seen it as a

harbinger of the end of the world. Of course, they saw most things involving Naruto as a sign of the end of the world, but that was beside the point.

Naruto bounded around the kitchen area of his apartment, the motions for making his favorite breakfast of ramen and milk. Admittedly he didn't worship milk the way he did ramen, but it was pretty good and it was supposed to help him grow.

Naruto heard the timer go off and realized his favorite moment was here! The ramen was done and he could finally taste its sweet succulence again. He smiled benevolently and addressed his favorite meal, "Ah, ramen, you're the food of life! There will always be something good in the world as long as you're on the menu."

Naruto's blissful thoughts died a horrible death as a terribly familiar flash lit his apartment. He froze and glanced behind him to see a very out of place and impossible square of light in his kitchen. He sighed as he finished making his ramen. Apparently whatever had happened to him wasn't finished yet.

Naruto decided to ignore the square until his breakfast was done. After all, even the Shinigami would have to realize that ramen was better than some stupid floating light!

When he finished his meal, Naruto looked ate the light square. He was tempted to pretend he hadn't seen the square and just head out for class, but he didn't know what would happen if he just left the light alone, so he braced himself and started reading.

**HOME MENU**

**Characters**

**Inventory**

**Missions**

_Okay, if this is anything like before it should listen to me. So what first? _Naruto considered the question for a second before deciding to just start at the top.

"Characters." Naruto felt a rush of relief as the menu simply changed instead of doing anything else (like attacking him). This time the menu held only a small bit of information.

**CHARACTER MENU**

**Naruto Uzumaki**

"Okay, Naruto Uzumaki."

**Level: N/A**

**Jutsu Statistics**

**Taijutsu Affinity: 0**

**Genjutsu Affinity: 0**

**Ninjutsu Affinity: 0**

**Kenjutsu Affinity: 0**

**Fuinjutsu Affinity: 0**

**Jutsu Learned: 3**

**Henge**** (E)**

**Kawarimi ****(E)**

**Kage Bunshin ****(A; Forbidden)**

**Physical Statistics**

**Strength: 0**

**Speed: 0**

**Defense: 0**

**Endurance: 0**

**Health: 0**

**Chakra Statistics**

**Chakra Reserves: 0**

**Chakra Control: 0**

**Chakra Regeneration: 0**

**Chakra Element: 0**

**Special Statistics **

**Intelligence: 0**

**Charisma: 0**

**Awareness: 0**

**Luck: 0**

**Teacher(s): N/A**

**Skill Tree (SHOW)**

**Modifiers (SHOW)**

_I'm pretty sure that's different than it was,_ Naruto thought. _I definitely don't remember a skill tree. I guess I can look at it later though, right now I want to see what these modifiers are!_

"Modifiers." Naruto's selection flashed on the screen. He didn't realize it, but Naruto had gotten so used to it that he wasn't even flinching anymore when the screen flashed. This time instead of a new screen, the existing screen just extended to fit the new information.

**Modifiers**

**Basic**

**High Chakra**

**This character has abnormally high chakra. +4 to Chakra Reserves**

**Low Control**

**This charcter has abnormally low control. -4 to Chakra Control**

**Instinct (Enhanced)**

**This character has excellent instincts and will learn much faster in doing than with theoretical training. Conditional bonus: +100% to learning speed**

**ADD**

**This character has trouble concentrating in a lecture setting. Conditional bonus: -50% to learning speed**

**Jinchuriki**

**As a container to one of the Bijuu, this character has the ability to access its power under certain circumstances. +Jinchuriki abilities **

**Will of Fire**

**An overwhelming determination to do what is believed to be right that provides a conditional combat bonus. +25% to combat effectiveness**

_I should probably be freaked by the fact that this thing knows about the Kyuubi, but if it can bring me back from the dead that probably isn't that difficult. Next thing I guess._ With that Naruto called out "Skill tree."

**Skill Tree**

**Kage Bunshin 0/20 (Special)**

**Kunai 0/20**

**Shuriken 0/20**

**Henge 0/20**

**Kawarimi 0/20**

"Great! More stuff that I don't know anything about! Would it be too much to ask for some help? Maybe a guide?" Naruto wasn't certain, but he thought he heard a faint giggle coming from nowhere. Thoroughly creeped out, Naruto decided to just go back to what he was doing.

"Yeah… Anyway, how do I go back? I don't think I can get to anything without going to the home menu." The screen flashed quickly and pulled up it's original menu. "Oh, just have to say which menu I want. That's actually pretty cool! Okay next is…Inventory!"

**INVENTORY MENU**

**Personal**

**Kunai (x7)**

**Shuriken (x30)**

**Clothing (E)**

**Home**

**Kunai (x25)**

**Shuriken (x60)**

**Ramen Cup (x36)**

**Milk 1 Quart**

"This is really starting to creep me out," Naruto muttered. He brightened as a thought occurred to him, "Hey, this means I can check my ramen any time I want! I'll never forget to buy more again!"

Naruto checked the Inventory again, but it didn't seem to have anything else he could do. It was interesting that the screen had that much information on him, but looking at stuff he already knew got boring very quickly.

"Missions!" Naruto said loudly. Despite the fact that his life had been turned upside-down Naruto was having a lot of fun. After all, he might not know what was going on, but he had a lot of new stuff to explore so it was all good!

**MISSIONS MENU**

**Tutorial (Active)**

**Finish the Tutorial and become a Ninja!**

**Reward: Ninja Status and Levels!**

"Tutorial? The hell? Wait… **BECOME **a ninja? I already am! I graduated last night! I have the cool headband and everything! Stupid thing knows how many kunai I have but can't tell that I'm a ninja!" Naruto huffed and crossed his arms until a sudden look of horror crossed his face. "Unless it knows something I don't! Maybe Iruka couldn't make my graduation stick! I've got to find him!"

Naruto dashed for his door and wrenched it open with panicked strength. He wasn't even aware of his surroundings as he took off toward the Academy with all of his speed.

That morning the citizens of Konoha were treated to the never before seen spectacle of Naruto tearing through town _without any ANBU or ninja on his tail!_

Someone new to town might wonder why this was significant. Simply put, Naruto had two basic settings: attention seeking kid with endless energy and lazy. Either one could come out at any time, but the one thing that stayed constant was that he never ran scared. He might run laughing or angry, but he had never run from a confrontation. Ever. Even if it was the smart thing to do!

This though, this was different. Naruto ran past them with an utterly terrified expression on his face. His running was clumsy and panic showed in every movement. So it was that the same thought crossed the mind of everyone who saw him: _If HE'S running away, I better too!_ So, Naruto unintentionally created a panic on his last day of class bigger than any he had created before.

Naruto was, of course, completely oblivious of the chaos he had caused. He dashed into the Academy grounds calling "Iruka-sensei! Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka was doing his usual check of the grounds to make certain they were clean and free of any dropped weapons from the more advanced classes when he heard Naruto calling him. He walked over with a smile for his student and asked, "What Naruto? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Naruto stopped and caught his breath for a second before bursting out, "Iruka-sensei, I'm a ninja now right? I mean I graduated and everything!"

"Yes Naruto," Iruka explained patiently. "The headband can only be worn by ninja so it is definite proof that you graduated."

"So there isn't anything else I have to do right?" Naruto pressed.

Iruka opened his mouth to answer when he realized that Naruto must have been told by someone, probably a ninja, that he wasn't done quite yet. Iruka thought about it for a second before replying, "Well, there is one last thing. I didn't tell you because Academy students aren't supposed to know." Iruka's smile grew into something mischievous as he continued, "You did save my life though and you already know that there's something so I guess I can tell you."

"The graduation is only a beginning. The next step is the genin test. Essentially, it is there to make sure you have the practical skills to be a ninja. Each jonin has their own test with its own focus. It's only if you pass that that you become a genin," Iruka explained.

Naruto's face rapidly lost color and Iruka was beginning to get worried that he would pass out. "So if I don't pass this I don't become a ninja? I've failed the test three times already!"

"No," Iruka said gently, "what happens is you are put in a special class in the academy for those who failed. In fact, only about thirty-three percent actually become genin from the selection test. In the class you can stay as long as you want. Many drop out simply because the requirements are harder to pass or they were scared by their first taste of the ninja life. However, promotions are slower and it is definitely a black mark on your record to fail, so don't take it lightly!"

Naruto thought about it for a second before saying, "Wait, does that mean that only three or four teams can graduate from our class? That's not fair!"

"Not precisely," Iruka replied. "Only a third usually pass, but technically all of them could. It's just that generally only that many are really ready. Like I said, the jonin all have their own test so all the teams can pass. It just doesn't work out that way though."

"Okay, I'll just have to prove I'm ready! Believe it!" Naruto yelled as he pumped his fist in the air.

Iruka just smiled and shook his head at the antics of his hyperactive student. "By the way," Iruka asked, "what are you doing here so early? It's still a good hour and a half before classes start."

"Huh?" Naruto looked around for a second, "That's weird. I had breakfast and messed around for a while before I came here. I thought it was nearly class time!"

"Nope," Iruka said, "you've still got a while before classes."

Naruto sighed, "I don't know. I guess it's too late to go back to my apartment. Is there anything to do around here?"

"How do you feel about some kunai and shuriken practice?"

"Sure Iruka-sensei!"

Naruto ran off to the practice room with Iruka trailing behind, amazed at Naruto's seemingly endless energy. They practiced for the next hour with some of the more advanced throwing techniques for kunai and shuriken. Naruto was amazed at the difference having some one on one time made! Iruka looked up and saw that there was only a half-hour before class so he called Naruto over. "Listen, this is your first lesson as a true ninja. Anytime you're bored or don't have much to do, train! The best ninja aren't necessarily the geniuses, the best are the ones who never stop improving."

"Thanks Iruka-sensei," Naruto said with a grin. "Hey, would it be alright to come over for training again?"

"Sure, as long as classes are out and your sensei doesn't have any training or missions for you," Iruka replied. He felt rather gratified that one of his students wanted to come back after the Academy. Not many really liked the idea of risking even more school-like lectures. "I'll warn you though, we probably won't be doing exciting training all the time. Some of it will probably bore you to tears! I promise it will all be for your good though."

"Yeah, I know," Naruto sighed before brightening up, "but you're the best teacher I've ever had! Anyway, I'm going to class. See you there!"

_Heh, _Iruka thought, _you'll be just fine Naruto._

xxx

Naruto sat toying with a kunai. The last day of class had been difficult. First, people hadn't believed he was a ninja, even with a headband. Then he had had that…collision with Sasuke. (He would never call it or think of it as a kiss!) Now he was on a team with Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme waiting for their sensei to show up. He had been conflicted for a few minutes whether to be happy or upset by his team selection, but had quickly decided to just wait and see how things turned out.

They had been waiting for fifteen minutes now and Naruto was getting bored. He was thinking about trapping the door when Iruka's advice came to him. The only thing he could think of that he could do indoors was practice drawing his kunai and shuriken and the basic jutsu. He figured Iruka would be upset if he messed up the classroom with Kawarimi and his Henge was about as good as it was likely to get so that left kunai and shuriken drawing. Normally improving something like that wouldn't have occurred to him, but Iruka had said that it was a good way of improving hand speed and coordination. Besides, getting the first volley off was a good thing in and of itself.

He got out of his seat and started practicing with his kunai, whipping it out into a ready position as fast as possible before returning it to his pouch to try again. His focus on the almost mindless rhythm of the exercise let him forget about the time going by.

"Naruto!" Sakura snapped in frustrated annoyance. "What are you doing!?"

"Huh?" Naruto's head snapped up as something broke his concentration.

"What are you doing?" Sakura demanded again. "You've been playing with that kunai for the last half hour!"

"Heh," Naruto grinned, rubbing the back of his head, "it's an exercise Iruka showed me. He said good ninja always practice when they have a chance. He also said that anytime you're bored is a chance to practice!"

Sakura huffed, "Well try to do it a little more quietly!" Naruto nodded before going back to what he was doing, slipping into the same rhythm and fugue state.

Sakura put her head on the desk with her hands over her ears, trying to block out the sound of the kunai being drawn. Sasuke sneered at the antics of his teammates before going back to his own thoughts.

xxx

Kakashi strolled into the classroom fully expecting at least one of his genin to have done something stupid like trap the door while they were waiting. What he found was genin that had apparently found ways to amuse themselves. Naruto was practicing his kunai drawing technique, Sasuke was running through handseals, and Sakura had a book of some sort out.

_Hmm, that's a good sign. They know how to use their time wisely. Maybe they're actually serious about this! Or they're just REALLY bored._

He was about to call out to his new team when he noticed that both Sasuke and Sakura had earplugs in their ears, apparently to block out the rhythmic sound of Naruto practicing. _I wonder how good their situational awareness is? One way to find out. _With that thought he started wandering around the room to get a closer look at his genin.

Sasuke seemed to be doing the handseals for the signature jutsu of the Uchiha. Kakashi was surprised to see that Sasuke apparently had the seals perfected. He would have to watch out for fireballs during the bell test.

Sakura's reading was a bit of a disappointment to him. It seemed to be the basic manual the Academy used. While that would normally be a good thing, her grades said that she had learned everything she could out of that book. It would have been better if she had been studying a different book instead of one she probably had memorized.

Naruto on the other hand, he was much more interesting. His form was lacking, but Kakashi had noticed a slow improvement with just the time he had been in the room. He would have to tailor Naruto's training toward more physical things if this was any indication. Still, all of that was overshadowed by the fact that apparently none of them had noticed him literally looking over their shoulders. That was seriously awful situational awareness.

Naruto was so zoned out he didn't notice Kakashi until he actually tapped Naruto on the shoulder. Naruto may have been last in his class, but he had received the same training the rest of the students had. When he felt something hit his shoulder he instinctively dove forward with a rolling twist that brought him back to his feet facing the threat, with a kunai flying as soon as he saw the person behind him. It was a textbook response to an enemy in the field, but the effect was ruined by the girly scream that he had let off.

Kakashi was amused to see his cute little genin's reaction to his little trick. Of course, the kunai flying at his head was annoying, but he considered the show well worth the price of admission.

Naruto's jaw dropped as he saw the ninja behind him simply snatch his weapon out of the air! "Your form needs work," the ninja said, "Decent reaction though."

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded.

"My name is Kakashi," the man said lazily, "and I'm your team leader."

Naruto took a second look at the guy in front of him. He was dressed in boring navy blue clothes. His face was mostly covered by his mask and headband, leaving only one eye visible. The only thing that really stood out about him was his spiky silver hair.

"You were late! What took you so long?" Naruto was feeling a little crabby from having been snuck up on so easily.

"Sorry, I got lost on the road of life," Kakashi said with a… smile? Somehow he gave the impression of smiling with just one visible eye.

"Wait," Naruto objected, "what does that even mean? That doesn't make any sense!"

"Grab the others and meet me on the roof, okay?" Kakashi completely ignored the question as he disappeared in a shushin. Naruto sweat-dropped at his teacher's display. _Great. My jonin is completely insane. That's typical._

xxx

Kakashi smirked behind his mask as he saw the expressions on his genin's faces. Naruto looked exasperated, Sasuke looked irritated, and Sakura? She looked furious. _Wait for it… There she goes!_

Sure enough, Sakura's temper reached the boiling point when she saw her jonin sensei. "What was the big idea leaving us in the room sensei?"

"Ahh, I thought I would come and dust off the seats for you. Then I realized that I had no idea where you would sit so I just waited. You kept me waiting for quite a while, you know?" Kakashi smiled as his prospective student's face turned bright red at his mildly accusatory words.

"You kept us waiting for hours!" Sakura raved. "Then you didn't even bother to get us yourself! You sent Naruto to do it!"

"Yeah, but you seemed to need to concentrate, what with the earplugs and all. You do realize that you aren't studying for academy tests, right?"

Sakura spluttered at the proof that her sensei had actually walked into the room and she hadn't noticed. It was funny, but Kakashi decided he had better get the ball rolling if he wanted to be done by sundown.

Kakashi got his students attention with a clap, "Let's start for real, shall we? Introduce yourselves and give your likes, dislikes, dreams and hobbies. That way we can all get to know each other!"

His enthusiasm annoyed Sakura further so she demanded he start first. "Hmm, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I don't want to tell you about my likes or dislikes. Dreams for the future? Well, I have a lot of hobbies."

"So… we got his name?" Sakura thought that was unfair, but decided not to fight about it.

"Okay blondie. Your turn." Kakashi ordered after a second.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! What I love is ramen, especially Ichiraku's ramen! What I hate is the amount of time it takes to cook!" As he stopped to take a breath the same thought was on the mind of his entire audience, _Wow he's obsessed with ramen._

He continued, "My dream is to surpass the Hokage and be acknowledged by the entire village!" _Hmm,_ Kakashi thought,_ that's certainly interesting._ "My hobby used to be pranks, but Iruka-sensei said I should make training my hobby if I want to be great!"

_A little different from what I was expecting...but in a good way._

Sakura went next, "My name is Sakura Haruno. My likes are…," she glanced at Sasuke, "Well the person I like is…" another glance "My dislike is Naruto!" Naruto looked crushed for a second before Sakura continued, "My dream for the future is…" This time the glance was long and predatory enough to make Sasuke shiver a little.

_Well, that was about what I expected. Too bad. _"All right, next up is the Emo!"

Sasuke folded his hands in front of his face before saying, "I have few likes and many dislikes. I have two things I will do: restore my clan and kill a certain someone."

_About what I expected._ Kakashi sighed before smirking behind his mask, "Listen up! Tomorrow I have something special planned! Heh," he chuckled maliciously, "you're going to scream when you hear what I have planned!"

"What do you mean sensei?" Sakura asked politely.

"Tomorrow we're going to be doing survival training!" Kakashi smiled as he took in their reactions with Sakura confused, Sasuke scowling, and Naruto… not exploding like he had expected. In fact, Naruto looked like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Oh well, he shrugged mentally, two out of three wasn't bad. "But, this training is more than a camping trip! You might not want to eat breakfast, unless you enjoy throwing up. So, meet me tomorrow at training ground Seven. Later!"

With that the infamously lazy jonin poofed away, leaving nothing but a few leaves swirling in his wake. The three genin looked at each other for a second before heading to their houses to prepare for the next day.


End file.
